Also, cars are terrifying here!

I totally forgot to mention in my last post (all of yesterday) about how absolutely scary it is to be in a motorized vehicle on these streets. So they drive on the left, which isn't that weird most of the time, except we have habits of walking on the right side of the road so that creates some issues. It is really stressful (for me at least, not so much for Mr. ATK) when we turn left without stopping to check oncoming traffic or when we veer to the left to avoid an oncoming car. (You see most of the time we drive down the middle of the street. If there are lines on the road, we are most likely straddling them. So the veering is really just getting back into your own lane, but it feels like you are veering into oncoming traffic--for me at least.)

The first Saturday in country we took a taxi back from a party and I'm not convinced his brakes worked at top capacity. Basically everyone in front of you has the right of way (from what I can tell) but you usually drive behind them and lay on the horn if its a slower vehicle (like a tuk tuk or a bicycle rickshaw) then swerve around them. Usually, though there are only two marked lanes of traffic on the road, there are in practice about five lanes (slightly staggered)--leaving about five inched of space between the cars. Plus motorcycles and scooters are constantly swerving in and out. I'm usually not concerned that I will be injured, mainly that my taxi will rear-end that scooter carrying a family of five on it and they will all get hurt.

Also, people honk their horns constantly. It's just one constant cacophony of horns sounding all day. Even bicycle rickshaws are always ringing their little bicycle bells. They will just lay on the horn as they speed down the street. I imagine it is to let other vehicles approaching uncontrolled intersections know that "This car is coming through and it ain't stopping for no man!"

And while traffic lights (of the red, yellow, green variety) are obeyed for the most part, flashing red and yellow lights mean nothing. People just drive right into the intersection. Then, of course, they must stop once they all meet in the middle. Then lots of honking ensues. If I were a sociologist, I might try to write a paper about that.

I am getting more acclimated--I even rode in a tuk tuk--but the honking gets really irritating at times. Perhaps it will eventually become like "white noise." We'll see.

The Inaugural Post...

Yeah, so it's been about a month since I've arrived in India and this is my first post. Sorry about that. And it's not like I can say I've had a lot to do, because I really haven't. (I mean besides washing dishes. God, it feels like I'm always washing dishes.)

Anyways, Mr. ATK and I are adjusting well. He is off and running in his new job and I am what you would call a "lady of leisure," I suppose. This means, I read a lot, wander to the market and buy things (usually tomatoes) and surf the internet. It's rather boring. (It was especially boring in the first week when we had no internet and before I got my embassy ID. "Lady of Leisur-ing" is less boring with internet and access to the embassy pool. Still, I hope to get a job in the near future.)

So here's the straight skinny on life in India so far...

1.) Our apartment is very nice. Much bigger than anything Mr. ATK and I have had previously. Two bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms. So a nice bedroom to bathroom ratio. Could be because Indian food demands a lot of bathrooms. Or that could be a spurious correlation. I find Indian food delicious regardless.

2.) They have happy hour from noon until 10 pm. That seems more like a happy day to me. And this is everyday. Take that, Wisconsin!

3.) We live in a nice area of town with a Dominos, Papa John's, and Subway (not that that's how you define "good neighborhoods" in the US, but still...) At first glance, it doesn't seem very impressive though and I was a little disappointed admittedly. The thing is, things don't look nice from the outside. They look kind of dumpy really. But then you go inside and the shops are really nice. I kept ending up getting expensive lunches because I would walk in to some non-descript restaurant and then inside it would be really nice. I found a nice foot spa and an art gallery this way, too.

4.) There are a ton of waitstaff at restaurants. I am not kidding. I can only assume this is because of the incredible labor surplus (there are a billion people in this country after all.) Yesterday, I was getting take out and I counted 9 total patrons in the restaurant (8 plus me), and 11 staff (8 waiters and 3 other people.)

5.) I went to McDonalds and had a McSpicy Chicken sandwich. Don't judge me.